Nonstop flight route between Vernal, Utah, United States and Luganville, Vanuatu:
Departure Airport:

Arrival Airport:

Distance from VEL to SON:
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- About this route
- VEL Airport Information
- SON Airport Information
- Facts about VEL
- Facts about SON
- Map of Nearest Airports to VEL
- List of Nearest Airports to VEL
- Map of Furthest Airports from VEL
- List of Furthest Airports from VEL
- Map of Nearest Airports to SON
- List of Nearest Airports to SON
- Map of Furthest Airports from SON
- List of Furthest Airports from SON
About this route:
A direct, nonstop flight between Vernal Regional Airport (VEL), Vernal, Utah, United States and Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON), Luganville, Vanuatu would travel a Great Circle distance of 6,565 miles (or 10,565 kilometers).
A Great Circle is the shortest distance between 2 points on a sphere. Because most world maps are flat (but the Earth is round), the route of the shortest distance between 2 points on the Earth will often appear curved when viewed on a flat map, especially for long distances. If you were to simply draw a straight line on a flat map and measure a very long distance, it would likely be much further than if you were to lay a string between those two points on a globe. Because of the large distance between Vernal Regional Airport and Santo-Pekoa International Airport, the route shown on this map most likely appears curved because of this reason.
Try it at home! Get a globe and tightly lay a string between Vernal Regional Airport and Santo-Pekoa International Airport. You'll see that it will travel the same route of the red line on this map!
Departure Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | VEL / KVEL |
Airport Names: |
|
Location: | Vernal, Utah, United States |
GPS Coordinates: | 40°26'26"N by 109°30'36"W |
Area Served: | Vernal, Utah |
Operator/Owner: | Uintah County & Vernal City |
Airport Type: | Public |
Elevation: | 5278 feet (1,609 meters) |
# of Runways: | 2 |
View all routes: | Routes from VEL |
More Information: | VEL Maps & Info |
Arrival Airport Information:
IATA / ICAO Codes: | SON / NVSS |
Airport Name: | Santo-Pekoa International Airport |
Location: | Luganville, Vanuatu |
GPS Coordinates: | 15°30'20"S by 167°13'17"E |
Operator/Owner: | Airports Vanuatu Limited |
Elevation: | 184 feet (56 meters) |
# of Runways: | 1 |
View all routes: | Routes from SON |
More Information: | SON Maps & Info |
Facts about Vernal Regional Airport (VEL):
- The closest airport to Vernal Regional Airport (VEL) is Rock Springs–Sweetwater County Airport (RKS), which is located 83 miles (134 kilometers) NNE of VEL.
- The furthest airport from Vernal Regional Airport (VEL) is Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport (RRG), which is located 10,947 miles (17,617 kilometers) away in Rodrigues Island, Mauritius.
- Vernal Regional Airport (VEL) has 2 runways.
- In addition to being known as "Vernal Regional Airport", another name for VEL is "Vernal - Uintah County Airport".
- Air Midwest began flights to Salt Lake City International Airport on 2 July 2006, replacing Salmon Air.
- Federal Aviation Administration records say the airport had 5,474 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008, 3,805 in 2009 and 4,461 in 2010.
- Because of Vernal Regional Airport's high elevation of 5,278 feet, planes must typically fly at a faster airspeed in order to takeoff or land at VEL. Combined with a high temperature, this could make VEL a "Hot & High" airport, where the air density is lower than it would otherwise be at sea level.
Facts about Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON):
- Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) currently has only 1 runway.
- The furthest airport from Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Ouro Sogui Airport (MAX), which is nearly antipodal to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (meaning Santo-Pekoa International Airport is almost on the exact opposite side of the Earth from Ouro Sogui Airport), and is located 12,400 miles (19,956 kilometers) away in Matam, Senegal.
- The closest airport to Santo-Pekoa International Airport (SON) is Norsup Airport (NUS), which is located 41 miles (67 kilometers) SSE of SON.
- Because of Santo-Pekoa International Airport's relatively low elevation of 184 feet, planes can take off or land at Santo-Pekoa International Airport at a lower air speed than at airports located at a higher elevation. This is because the air density is higher closer to sea level than it would otherwise be at higher elevations.
- Luganville Airfield was used as a civilian airstrip until the early 1970s, however as it was on higher ground it was often clouded in and so it was decided to move all operations to the former Pekoa Airfield/Bomber Field No.2 which became Santo-Pekoa International Airport.
- The 7th Naval Construction Battalion arrived on Santo on 11 August 1942 and began construction of more extensive air facilities to support the Guadalcanal Campaign.